BOSTON -- John McNamara didn't sent out Dave Stapleton in the last World Series Game Six the Red Sox played because he wanted Bill Buckner to be on the field at the moment the final out was recorded.

BOSTON -- John McNamara didn't sent out Dave Stapleton in the last World Series Game Six the Red Sox played because he wanted Bill Buckner to be on the field at the moment the final out was recorded.

No matter what he did, John Farrell wasn't going to be able to play in this Game Six every player who has made significant contributions to this Red Sox team. Most notably, Farrell hasn't played Jarrod Saltalamacchia since Game Three of the World Series and sat Daniel Nava in favor of Jonny Gomes against Cardinals righty Michael Wacha.

With Buckner on the field, after all, the last out McNamara anticipated never came.

"You see what a guy has done through the course of the year and has earned the right to be on the field," Farrell siad. "And yet for specific reasons, you'll see a matchup, and we're better able to attack a matchup in a certain way. ... It's a different time of year. That sense of urgency that we talked about leading into the postseason is here now."

Certainly, neither Nava nor Saltalamacchia was going to be thrilled with watching a potential World Series clincher from the bench when they'd been everyday players all season long.

But there can be no victory lap until the victory.

"I respect their dislike and disagreement with it," Farrell said. "And yet we find ourselves in a position to make decisions that sometimes aren't the most popular. You do what you think is the best and right thing in the moment."